Red Flags that Employee Embezzlement May Be Taking Place
The following list describes signs that employee embezzlement may be taking place:
FOR CURRENT EMPLOYEES:
• Employee lives a lifestyle unsupported by current family or occupational income.
• Employee exhibits a sudden change in lifestyle and spending habits.
• Employee frequently comments or complains about not having enough money.
• Employee, or employee’s spouse, has a gambling problem.
• Employee, or employee’s spouse, has a problem with alcohol.
• Employee, or employee’s spouse, has a problem with drugs.
• Employee experiences marital conflict.
• Employee engages in an extramarital affair.
• Employee, or employee’s family has accumulated large medical bills.
• Employee’s spouse lost their job.
• Employee is always first in the morning.
• Employee is always last to leave at the end of the day.
• Employee comes in after hours to get work done and has seemingly legitimate reasons for doing so.
• Employee does not take vacation time.
• Employee does not take personal or sick days.
• Employee refuses to run a requested financial or internal report.
• Employee exhibits nervousness when another employee attempts to help them with their duties.
• Employee feels threatened by others being trained on their duties.
• Employees will not train other employees on how to do their duties.
• Employee simply doesn’t allow anyone else to ever do their duties.
• Employee appears resistant to change.
• Employee expresses annoyance with reasonable questions about bookkeeping, billing, or insurance items.
• Employee has been having more difficulties with their job.
• Employee constantly complains about their job, other employees, or the office in general.
• Patients complain about accounting errors.
• Patient comments that they didn’t receive an account statement.
• Deposits only have checks.
• Amount of cash payments has decreased over time
• Amount of write-offs and other adjustments have increased over time
• Increase in Accounts Receivables without corresponding increase in production
• Increase inpatient comments or complaints about payment, billing, or insurance errors
• A drop in income is not supported by a drop in production.
• Deposited cash always appears in nice, even numbers.
• Insurance PPO write-offs are found on a patient’s account, but the patient is not a member of a PPO plan.
• Adjustments to a patient’s account were not approved by the practice owner.
• Fees that are not the standard fees have been charged to an account without the approval of a practice owner.
• Petty Cash or the Charge Fund are found out-of-balance.
• Employee quits unexpectedly, without notice or warning.
FOR POTENTIAL NEW EMPLOYEES:
• New applicant is hesitant to discuss details of a previous job.
• New applicant’s former employer shows reluctance in providing detailed information about the potential employee.
• New applicant’s resume has unexplained lapses of work for a period of time.
• New applicants will not consent to a background check.
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